First Gibson Les Paul ;-)
Wanting to buy my first Gibson Les Paul but dunno what to buy!

So finnally after savin up for a looooooong time... I finnaly have £725 (im 14 therefore gettin money is kinda hard at my stage) to spend on a brand new Gibson LP!! Now heres my problem, i am completly stuck between buying a Gibson LPJ or a Gibson Les Paul Studio 50s tribute Humbucker. Both of these are In Goldtop but have a slightly different necks and woods etc. The LPJ also has black control knobs, black pickup rings, black pickup selector etc but on the Studio, we have cream pickup rings, pickup selecter etc which gives the studio a bit more
Of that classic goldtop look compared to the LPJ becauase of the cream coloured components. Im not 100% sure on the hardware specs but ill put links down at the end so u guys can look at them yourselves. The Prices are pretty much around the same (maybe £10-£30 difference) and fit into my budget. Now in terms of style, i prefer the studio as it has the cream coloured components and also doesnt have pickup covers and also has the les paul logo on the headstock but im more looking into sound as looks isnt the most important thing for me at the moment as im not performing anywhere, im just jammin with my friends in the basement which doesnt require a guitar havin amazing looks but it would be nicer to have a better looking LP but its not the end of the world if its not very good lookin. Ive tried out the LPJ and i really liked the sound of the pickups. They just screamed when plugged into a Marshall amp with a wah pedal, playin the Sweet Child o Mine solo. It even sounded better than my Epiphone LP plustop pro which had seymore duncuns fitted in. In terms of playibility, i really liked the style of the neck which was extremly comfortable for me and the action was also set quite well, was maybe a tiny bit too high but it was still pretty good. The traditional weigh relief on it was also a nice touch as usually the LP's ive played are a bit heavy and have been known to make my shoulders hurt after a few hours of jumpin up and down like Angus Young (THUNDERSTRUCK!!!) but i played this for an hour standing up and rockin out and it was pretty comfortable. The overall finish was also perfect except from a tiny smudge on the gold finish which might have just been a one off for quality control but all an all, perfecto. Now my question is.... Can the 50s studio tribute beat the LPJ? Every review ive heard about the studio has been good except from a few issues like the paint flaking from the back but i can live with that so please leave ure comments and help me decide which one to buy THANK YOU
LP 50s tribute studio - http://www.thomann.d...te_gt_db_tm.htm
LPJ - http://www.thomann.d...ed_gold_top.htm

Both guitars have a "faded" finish so will be more susceptible to finish wear and dings if you're not very careful. I've heard that the dark back Tributes which have been stained/painted black on the rear and sides are the ones which have suffered from paint flaking, unlike the first run of natural finish backs which haven't. I've also heard reports of gold top faded models wearing easily on the tops.

If you go for any Gibson with a faded/satin finish there are only a couple of coats of nitro lacquer as opposed to 8 or so on a regular Gibson. That's why they are a couple of hundred quid cheaper. That means you'll need to be more conscious to avoid rubbing the guitar against belt buckles, zips and anything else that can dent or wear the finish more quickly....unless it doesn't bother you.

BTW, I can vouch for Thomann- that's where I bought my '50s Tribute HB (first run) from and I've been very satisfied with them. Mine is still flawless- you can see the pics on the "club" link in my signature below.

Anyway, you say you have £725 to play with........

For £728 you can get the LP '60s Tribute Future which has better pickups, a very nice looking burst top and a natural back. Here it is:

Both guitars have a "faded" finish so will be more susceptible to finish wear and dings if you're not very careful. I've heard that the dark back Tributes which have been stained/painted black on the rear and sides are the ones which have suffered from paint flaking, unlike the first run of natural finish backs which haven't. I've also heard reports of gold top faded models wearing easily on the tops.

If you go for any Gibson with a faded/satin finish there are only a couple of coats of nitro lacquer as opposed to 8 or so on a regular Gibson. That's why they are a couple of hundred quid cheaper. That means you'll need to be more conscious to avoid rubbing the guitar against belt buckles, zips and anything else that can dent or wear the finish more quickly....unless it doesn't bother you.

BTW, I can vouch for Thomann- that's where I bought my '50s Tribute HB (first run) from and I've been very satisfied with them. Mine is still flawless- you can see the pics on the "club" link in my signature below.

Anyway, you say you have £725 to play with........

For £728 you can get the LP '60s Tribute Future which has better pickups, a very nice looking burst top and a natural back. Here it is:

Thanks for the post dude. Ive been actually looking into the future tribute and have tried it out aswell but there are a few things i dont like about it. First off the tuner are hidden behind the actual headstock and when i tried them out, they wernt very comfortable + i like the classic les paul look, not a modern style les paul look. Also another i mentioned in my original post is that i like the cream coloured hardware instead of the black look they give to it as again a classic LP look. Also, i wanted a goldtop which the future has but at a steeper price of £818 :-( in terms of playability, i didnt really like the 60s style neck compared to the 50s style model so overall i think ill stick to the Studio:-)

Both guitars have a "faded" finish so will be more susceptible to finish wear and dings if you're not very careful. I've heard that the dark back Tributes which have been stained/painted black on the rear and sides are the ones which have suffered from paint flaking, unlike the first run of natural finish backs which haven't. I've also heard reports of gold top faded models wearing easily on the tops.

If you go for any Gibson with a faded/satin finish there are only a couple of coats of nitro lacquer as opposed to 8 or so on a regular Gibson. That's why they are a couple of hundred quid cheaper. That means you'll need to be more conscious to avoid rubbing the guitar against belt buckles, zips and anything else that can dent or wear the finish more quickly....unless it doesn't bother you.

BTW, I can vouch for Thomann- that's where I bought my '50s Tribute HB (first run) from and I've been very satisfied with them. Mine is still flawless- you can see the pics on the "club" link in my signature below.

Anyway, you say you have £725 to play with........

For £728 you can get the LP '60s Tribute Future which has better pickups, a very nice looking burst top and a natural back. Here it is:

Thanks for the post dude. Ive been actually looking into the future tribute and have tried it out aswell but there are a few things i dont like about it. First off the tuner are hidden behind the actual headstock and when i tried them out, they wernt very comfortable + i like the classic les paul look, not a modern style les paul look. Also another i mentioned in my original post is that i like the cream coloured hardware instead of the black look they give to it as again a classic LP look. Also, i wanted a goldtop which the future has but at a steeper price of £818 :-( in terms of playability, i didnt really like the 60s style neck compared to the 50s style model so overall i think ill stick to the Studio:-)

in your link, it says mahogany neck and baked maple fretboard for the studio. i don't really know the tone difference for different neck and board wood combos. i don't even remember the last time i played anything besides a mahogany neck and rosewood board....

heaven is a les paul, a pair of emg-81s, and a dimed '90s carvin x-100b half-stack....

in your link, it says mahogany neck and baked maple fretboard for the studio. i don't really know the tone difference for different neck and board wood combos. i don't even remember the last time i played anything besides a mahogany neck and rosewood board....

All-in-all they will perform almost exactly alike in that they both have the same set of pickups (490 + 498) so they will sound pretty much identical to one another.

Both have the 50's style neck so they should feel pretty much the same, too.

How heavy do you like your guitars to be?
The Studio Tribute is chambered whereas the LPJ is weight-relieved so the Tribute should be lighter and might possibly be brighter-sounding.
Whether anyone would be able to hear a noticeable difference once plugged-in and playing with others is, of course, a very good question...

Baked-Maple V's Rosewood? Everyone who has bought a B-M LP has loved the feel. Whilst I do prefer the latter there is as-near-as-makes-no-difference in final tone.

I'd get the Tribute. No question. It also has a far classier look. IMHO, of course.

A lot of guitars look good on paper. The best thing to do it sit down and find one that speaks to you. There's been times where I walked into Guitar Center with two grand and walked out empty handed because nothing felt perfect. I even had them ship in a Jackson USA Soloist and told them no thanks after playing it.

Even my 2012 LP, I tried different ones (same model) a few times over months until one day I held one that just felt and sounded perfect. I'm not a very emotionally-driven person, but some guitars connect and some don't.